Family Therapy

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Madonna Inn or no, Tony was making good on his commitment to seek therapy. Or, in this case, facilitate it.

Every part of him was anxious, but he had some chamomile tea beforehand and prayed that the beta blockers were working their magic. And, of course, none of that showed on his face. To the world, he was the picture of cool. But all the adrenergic response inhibitors couldn't scrub the deep seated unsettled feeling that plagued him. It was almost existential. What caring god would decide that Tony Stark was the only adult around both informed and caring enough to round up some teenagers and a child for a mediated counseling session? Who was allowing this?

Alright. Deep breath. The young trio were seated around in his room. It was the most neutral, private setting he could think of. All of his clutter was pushed back into the bed area and arranged somewhat professionally. The drawing boards were covered with his spare sheets to reduce the amount of distraction and preserve the privacy of his work. Liz and Annie were seated on either side of Peter on the red sofa, and Tony was seated himself on the beige plush bench across from them, pulled in closer to provide some sense of intimacy. The candles already there provided some soft, warm lighting though Tony really was at a loss with the rocky interior. He'd grown desensitized to them but once he had to meditate over how it'd lend itself to a collective emotional breakthrough the damn walls just taunted him all over again. Tony told himself that if he ignored them, so would everyone else. Hopefully.

Alright. Go time. Tony pitied the universe where he was a social worker but many of the concepts and skills involved were translatable from his past life as a business man. Set goals and expectations. Identify and meet the needs. Strategize.

"Alright." Tony leaned back on the bench. "Before we all start talking, I think it'd be helpful if we all went around in a circle and expressed what we're hoping to get out of today. What we want to understand, what we want to change, what we want others to know."

Comments

[st_arkintern]

Peter opens his mouth to protest, but thinks better of it. It's not worth arguing over this anymore, anyway. He wasn't going to debate over anyone's choice of words right now.

"Okay," he says to Tony. "Just..." Peter rubs at his nose with the back of his hand. "...let me know when and where you need me."

A beat and then:

"Can Liz and I go up to my room now? I'm really -- I'm just really wiped."

[st_hotflashes]

When Mr. Stark told her to hang back, she had withdrawn her hand instinctively from Peter. It wasn't necessarily that she misunderstood the man, but it was more automatic because her liking Peter had sort of started this whole ordeal

"I know. I'll, um. I'll just do whatever, I promise."

She looked from Mr. Stark to Peter and offered a small smile that she hoped it to be warm and reassuring. It wasn't entirely a convincing smile. The urge to magically somehow fix it all was strong.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony relented. There were times to be hard and times to be soft. ‘Gotta play good cop bad cop on my own. Joys of single parenting.’ “C’mon. Come here. It’s okay.” He approached Peter, patting his shoulder before pulling him into a hug.

“I know. It was never going to resolve itself in one day. It’ll get better. I promise it will.”

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah, I know," Peter mumbles into Tony's shirt, grateful to have his face hidden from view, if even for a little while. "I just don't want Annie to think that everything I said to her was some stupid lie."

And Peter's pretty sure she already does.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“All you were trying to do was be there for her.” Tony ran his hands up and down Peter’s back. “You still can.”

[st_arkintern]

"Not if she's not gonna let me."

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Maybe you can’t be there for her as her father. You can be there for her as yourself. We’ll help her understand that.” Tony pulled back, hands resting on Peter’s shoulders. “The way you are is enough.”

[st_arkintern]

"Thanks," Peter says, not quite able to make eye contact. He wonders if Tony's ever felt like that before. "I'm just gonna go up to my room. Let me know how she is when she wakes up."